What would Christmas be like?
by Dancing-StarryEyedDemigod
Summary: A two/three-shot. Christmas with the 18 year old Percy and Annabeth turns out to be a risk-your-demigod-life situation. Full of action ish stuff , fluff, Christmasness, and PJatO. A holiday gift from me to you.
1. Without the wait

**I'm going to insert the author's note that is at the beginning of the next chapter of SaB. Just because this is my Christmas/Holiday present to you, and I feel you deserve an explanation :]**

Okay, for starters, I'd like to apologize a thousand times, over and over and over again, because last month was November. In October, I planned on writing a chapter for each of my chapter pieces and letting you know I'd be disappearing off the face of fanfiction for a month, but I never did that. I'm so sorry I just neglected this story, but I had no choice. I decided to do Nanowrimo this year.

Nanowrimo is a yearly event, in which participants create a 50,000 word novel during the month of November and upload it to the site.

If you know what I'm talking about, good for you, you understand that I decided to participate this year and you forgive me. You can go ahead and skip to the story.

If you have no clue what I'm talking about, then I'll fill you in. In order to win Nanowrimo and write 50,000 words in one month, you must write a minimum of 1,667 words per day. That's like writing a 2-to-3-page chapter for a chapter story, every single day. So I got sucked in, like all participants do. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I sure as Hades got addicted, and fast.

Result? Fanfiction neglect. Please find it in your heart to forgive me and not make my poor stories suffer because of my mistake. I've been delayed this month simply because I needed a break from writing :]

**Fun fact for you. It's 1:14 a.m. on December 24th and my mom just came home with tons of groceries. Among these is a box of strawberry cream stuff from "Strawberry Hill." you can guess what that reminds me of.**

**So, merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. This is my two-shot present to you. It's like a one-shot, but it's in two parts. Okay, it might end up being in three parts.**

**I don't even know what you'd call that.**

* * *

I blew a strand of curly-and-sometimes-annoying blonde hair out of my face and started chewing on the pencil end again, staring at the blank page in my stupid notebook. I was trying to plan a Christmas party for Percy and his mom and Paul, but I wasn't having any luck.

With 2 days before Christmas Eve, you'd think I would realize that I had no time, right? Not so much. I was making no progress. I'd called Sally multiple times, and still couldn't remember what color she'd told me their living room was.

I was just about to give up. I get that I'm a child of Athena. I'm smart. Abnormally smart. But I just did not plan parties. I don't know why, I just didn't. So I was about to call it quits and have a mental breakdown (Over something stupid, but isn't that what all mental breakdowns are over?), when someone called the hotel I was staying at. The little cordless phone on the bedside table chimed, and I picked it up.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Miss Annabeth Chase?" The receptionist on the other end said. "There's a call from a Mr. Percy Jackson on the other end for you. Would you like to accept this call?"

I smiled. "Yes, thank you."

"Very well."

There was a sound that was somewhere in between a buzz and a beep, and then I heard kids screaming in the background and a very disgruntled teenager cursing them under his breath.

"Well hello to you too, Percy," I said, grinning like a maniac.

"Oh, Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed, not realizing I'd picked up. "Not you! _You're_ not a goddamn mutant pest from Hades."

"I'm not?" I asked. "Well then, who is?"

"Paul's nephews and nieces... ugh."

"Oh, I see," I replied, smiling. "So, what did you need?"

"Uh, well... I just... wanted to make sure you're staying for Christmas."

I laughed. "Percy, this is the fourth time you've called about that since I got here. I already told you, I'm not going back to San Francisco until after New Years, okay?"

I could practically feel Percy's smile from the other end. "Yeah, you told me that. I was just calling to make sure," he said. "Because I know your stepmom said you'd always have a home there, but I just feel like-" I knew he was about to start ranting, but he was cut off abruptly. Percy wasn't talking anymore, but I could still hear the background noise. Kids were laughing and he was barking at them to give them the phone back. I covered my giggling mouth with my hand and listened to Percy bicker with the nieces and nephews. After a few seconds, there was a loud crash, and a clacking noise as Percy picked up the phone again.

"Sorry about that, Wise Girl," he said, out of breath. "Felicia stole the phone, and Brandon thought it would be funny to play Percy in the middle."

I could imagine his cute, lopsided grin and how his black hair would be tousled and messy from running. I could feel his smiling, green eyes gazing expectantly at the phone as he waited fro me to reply. I immediately missed him.

"I miss you," Percy said after a moment or two of silence from my end. I laughed at how ironic that way.

"I miss you too," I said.

"It's been too long."

"It's been two days, Seaweed Brain."

"Which is too long for me."

"You're hopeless."

"So I've been told. G'night, Wise Girl."

"Wait!" I blurted before I could stop myself. I hesitated.

"Yes?"

"Can you please tell your mom I can't handle this party planning?" I said reluctantly. "She's better at it then I am."

Percy chuckled. "Sure thing."

"Thank you. Good night." I hung up the phone and smiled. I closed the notebook that was sitting in my lap and stood up, walking over to the hotel window with generic hotel curtains and the generic room heater underneath the glass. I sat down on the window seat and looked out at the snowy New York streets below. Even though it was the middle of December, the streets were still packed with people and cars, Christmas shopping and going on about their New York lives.

There was a knock on my hotel room door.

"Just a second!" I shouted, closing the thick curtains and standing up. I closed the short distance to the door and opened it. A tall, blonde hotel employee was standing on the other side, a cocky grin on his face. I froze.

"Miss Annabeth Chase?" he asked smoothly, his voice sounding very familiar.

He looked me up and down with those ice blue eyes and ran his hand through his spiky, golden hair. He looked young, not older than 25, but definitely older than me. I took a shaky breath and looked him in the eyes. I almost expected them to turn to gold. But I knew they wouldn't.

Still, the guy looked just like Luke had. If he'd had a scar under his left eye, then I might've gotten suspicious.

"Annabeth Chase?" The guy asked again when I didn't answer, his cocky grin turning into a confused eyebrow-raising.

I shook my hair out of my face and stood up straighter. "Yes, that's me," I said, trying not to show any emotion on my face.

"There's a package at the front desk for you," the Luke-look-alike said.

"Thank you." I stared at the Luke guy, who was staring at me like I was crazy beautiful. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. I shifted my weight and the guy coughed.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, sounding sweet and innocent, much like Luke had sounded when Kronos couldn't control him.

"Sure."

"Why are you a _Miss_ Annabeth Chase?" he asked, a sparkling glint in his eye. "Shouldn't you be a _Mrs._?"

I was taken aback. "Uh... well I'm only 18," was my intelligent response. The Luke-look-alike grinned and chuckled.

"The package is from the Jackson residence. Tell me, what's keeping Mr. Jackson from proposing?"

"We're only 18," I replied.

"Alright, alright," the guy said, backing up. "Just asking. See ya around, Miss Annabeth."

"Bye, Mr. I-don't-know-your-name."

"It's Kade," he called as he took off down the hallway.

I closed the door and went to sit down on my bed. After a few minutes of trying to decide what to do, I put my tennis shoes on over the socks I was wearing, grabbed my room key and set off for the front desk.

* * *

The package, after I brought it up to my room 20 minutes later, turned out to be a big brown box from, and Kade had promised, the Jackson Residence. I tore open the duct-taped package and pulled out bubble wrap and presents from Sally and Paul, plus a note from Percy saying my present from him was coming later. The gifts inside were wrapped with bows and tags, and I wasn't supposed to open them until Christmas Eve. I was spending Christmas day up at their apartment, but I guess the Jacksons wanted me to have gifts at the hotel for some reason. I stuck the presents under a generic, boring, hotel-supplied Christmas tree in the corner of the room and walked over to my bedside table. I picked up the little cordless phone and dialed the front desk.

"Front desk," a woman said on the second ring.

"Yes, can I please request that my packages be sent to my room from now on?" I asked. I had a feeling Percy's gift would be more elaborate, and I really didn't want Kade messing with it.

"Of course," the woman replied. "Speaking of, there's another one here now. Would you like me to send it up with an employee?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah. Thank you."

The woman hung up, and so did I. I sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out who'd sent me a present now. I must be really popular tonight.

The employee arrived and knocked on the door. I went over to answer it, and when I did, I was shocked to see Kade standing there with a small gift box.

"You?" I asked.

"Me," Kade replied smoothly, holding out the small box. "Go on, open it."

I took the gift. "And you're going to stand there and watch me because...?"

"Because it's from me."

Well that solves that mystery. I pulled at the ribbon, and the bow came undone, leaving a simple green box. I raised an eyebrow and Kade, who urged me to open it. I shrugged and lifted the lid, revealing a small piece of notebook paper. I picked it up and read it, and was surprised to hear Kade telling me the exact thing that was written on the paper.

"To Miss Annabeth Chase," he said as I read. "I know your fatal flaw. You might as well give up now."

"What?" I asked, staring incredulously at Kade. His eyes gleamed, tinted red. I stepped back.

"Look at the gift," he said, suddenly menacing. I couldn't do anything else. I looked down at the box. Inside was a white cushion, with a thin silver necklace resting in the middle. Connected to the chain was a charm. I gasped, not only because it was beautiful, but because the charm was a knife. A celestial bronze knife that was way too familiar.

"Get out of here," I said to the smirking Kade, cramming the lid back onto the box and tossing it onto my bed.

"You think it's over," Kade said, ignoring my demand and taking a step inside my room. "But it's not. Kronos will live on."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I played innocent, backing up.

"Oh, I think you do," Kade said, taking another step towards me.

"Do I?" I asked ignorantly. Kade stopped walking and waved me off with his hand.

"I don't have time for these games," he said impatiently. "I know about your stupid quests and your camps and demigods."

"How do you know about that?" I asked, giving up the innocent act.

"I know a ton of stuff."

"You're lying," I said, my mother's logic taking over. "You're lying to get me to tell you things."

"Perhaps," Kade said, continuing to walk forward and back me up at the same time. He continued until I was flinching up against the wall.

"Where's your knife, Miss Annabeth?" he asked mockingly. I lifted my chin and looked him in the eye.

"If you 'know a ton of stuff,' like you say, then _you _should be able to tell _me_."

"Okay," Kade spat. "You gave it to Percy Jackson, who gave it to _Luke,_" he said Luke's name like an insult, "who tried to kill Kronos."

I scoffed. "Tried? Don't think so. Luke _did _kill Kronos."

It was Kade's turn to scoff, apparently, and as he did, he pulled something out from his pocket. It started out looking like a gold class ring, but almost immediately grew into a miniature scythe, one that looked just like Kronos' had looked, except for the fact that it was pure gold and smaller.

Kade shifted the hand-scythe from one hand to the other, its ominous surface gleaming under the light.

"This is Olympian gold," he said, lifting the scythe up to admire it under the light. "Almost like celestial bronze, but much stronger." He looked me in the eye, and I caught my breath as he spoke his next words. "It can slice through humans as well as demigods."

"Ouch," I muttered under my breath, unable to take my eyes off the threatening weapon.

"I feel somewhat bad about what I'm going to do now," Kade said, a hint of pity in his reddish blue eyes, "seeing as you have no means to protect yourself. But oh well. A warrior's gotta do what a warrior's gotta do." He reached out to strike me with the scythe, but I slid down the wall and rolled to the side, my demigod battlefield instincts taking over.

"What the-?" Kade looked down as I swung my leg under his, causing him to lose his balance and fall. I hadn't expected it to work, but my common sense-defying move gave me enough time to snatch Kade's scythe and sprint to the hotel bathroom.

I slashed at the sink faucet with the scythe and water started spraying everywhere, coming down in a fine mist in front of me. I set the scythe down on the bathtub and started digging through my jeans pockets, praying to the gods I'd stuck a drachma in there at some point.

I guess the gods were listening, because in my back pocket with some lint and a gum wrapper, I found one of the golden coins. I quickly tossed it into the rainbow-covered mist.

"Camp half-blood!" I shouted at the mist. "I'd like to speak with Chiron, please!"

The mist shimmered and shifted until I was looking at an image of my old camp director, playing pinochle in his room with an unseen hand.

"Chiron!" I shouted. The horse-man stumbled in surprise and turned to look at me.

"Why hello, Annabeth! I haven't heard from you in-" his look of welcoming and relief at seeing it was me instantly faded when he saw my tousled hair and how I was gasping for breath and bracing myself on the bathroom sink. "What's wrong, Annabeth?" he asked me, his wise eyes full of worry.

I was about to launch into my story when something (most likely Kade) crashed into the closed bathroom door. It stayed locked.

"A Kronos supporter is here," I said frantically as Kade crashed into the door a second time. "I don't know how he knows who I am or how to find me, but he did." I held up the scythe as Chiron listened intently. Kade slammed himself into the door again, desperately trying to get in here and kill me.

"He says Kronos isn't dead," I added, speaking as fast as I could, terrified as I was. "He's trying to kill me. He knows about Percy and Luke and I killing Kronos."

The second I finished talking, Kade burst through the door, snarling and glaring. I spun around and pressed my back to the sink, facing away from Chiron. For a split second, Kade didn't move. Then his gaze flickered to the scythe in my hand, and he lunged for it.

But he was too late. I hurled the golden weapon at him, and it connected with his second milliseconds after he'd moved from the doorway. He disintegrated into silver dust, just like a monster would. The scythe turned back into a gold class ring. For a few moments, I couldn't move. I just breathed hard and listen to Chiron babble to himself. I turned back around and faced the Iris-message. Chiron looked up at me.

"This is most certainly _not good_," he said slowly.

"Tell me about it. Chiron, what am I going to do?"

"Well, I advise you pretend it never happened. Be on your guard, but go about your business like you normally would. I'll look into the situation."

"Thanks, Chiron," I said, swallowing a lump of terror in my throat.

"You're very welcome, Annabeth."

I bent down and picked up the gold class ring, sticking into my pocket.

"Bye Chiron," I said gently as I stood back up.

"Goodbye, my child," Chiron replied. "Be careful," he said just before I waved my hand through the mist and disconnected the Iris-message.

* * *

Like it? Mind telling me if you do?

MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HANUKWANZICA :]


	2. We walk in the snow

**And a-two.**

* * *

I'd made my way to the front desk and explained (as best as I could) what had happened. I made up some story about Kade being a rapist, and how he'd thrown something to break the sink, and how I'd pay for everything. The concierge on-call assured me that the hotel would fix everything with their own money, and got me a new room.

I packed up my things and carried them to the new room, where I had to explain to the cleaning lady why I had to switch. I told her the same believable story about Kade being a sick creep who wouldn't leave me alone and how he totally obliterated the faucet. The lady was very understanding and quickly finished up the room for me.

Fighting an inhuman creature with their own scythe was more tiring than you'd think. I set my bags down on the floor and immediately flopped down on the neatly made bed, kicking off my shoes and crashing the second my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I woke up late. I mulled around my hotel room for a few hours, unpacking everything again and putting stuff in drawers. I got on my laptop for a while and looked at some of Daedalus' files. At one point, I turned on the shower on mist mode, opened the curtain all the way up, and Iris-messaged Thalia. We talked for a little, and she told me about some of the things the hunters were doing. I told her the truth about Kade, not what I was telling everyone else.

"That's not good, Annabeth," she said, scowling. "If he knew about..." she took a deep, shaky breath. It was still hard for her to say his name.

"Yeah," I said, saving her from having to think about Luke. "If he knew all that stuff, there had to be tons he wasn't telling me he knew."

We talked for a bit longer, but eventually Thalia had to continue on with the hunters. We said our goodbye and Thalia waved her hand through the Iris-message, cutting off our connection. I turned off the shower.

Around 8 or 9, I called Percy. He met me outside the hotel, and that's when I told him the _real _story about Kade, the one I'd told Thalia. We were walking along a crowded street in Upper Manhattan, doing some innocent-seeming window shopping while snow fell in wisps around everyone. What we were actually doing was having a small demigod talk.

"Okay, first thing's first," Percy said once I'd finished my story. "_Silver _dust?"

I almost laughed at my Seaweed Brain. The silver dust wasn't really the first thing I mentioned, but that was probably the first thing on his mind. We stopped at a little gift shop.

"Yes, silver. Weird, right?" I replied, the bell above the door ringing as we stepped inside the store.

"Shouldn't it have been gold, or at least yellow?" Percy asked, lowering his voice now that we were inside the quiet shop. "That's what monsters normally turn into."

"Yeah, but I don't think he was a monster," I said, casually picking up a small empire state figurine with a bright red Santa perched next to it. "He was something else."

"That's not good."

I put down the statue, looked over at Percy and shook my head solemnly.

"No. It's not."

Percy grabbed my hand and smiled. "Forget it," he said. "Let's just enjoy ourselves. It's almost Christmas, for Zeus's sake!"

So we exited the store and walked for an hour, making our way to and through Central Park. We walked in the snow, letting our troubles go. We walked all through the park and sat down on a colorful green bench that was covered in snow. For a few silent moments, we watch couples walk through the park, too in love to notice or care about the freezing snow and ice around them.

Percy chuckled. "Christmas spirit," he said, commenting on the couples. "Makes everyone crazy."

"Crazy?" I said, laughing. "They're happy. Let them be."

"Fine, but I would never spend a cold night out in the snow," Percy joked.

"Never say never," I replied, smiling.

"NEVER!" Percy shouted to the park full of snow and trees. I laughed loudly and rested my head on my boyfriend's shoulder.

"Just so you know, Seaweed Brain," I said softly after a few minutes of silence. "You're out in the snow on a cold night."

Percy sighed dramatically. "Oh, the things we do for love."

I giggled like I had a million times before, which still surprised me, even now. I hadn't giggled a few years ago, but gradually I'd been getting bouncier and happier. I assumed it had something to do with Percy. But don't quote me on that.

So anyways, I was in utter bliss, curled up against Percy's warm body and watching the snow fall, when he suddenly tensed. I sat up and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Shh," was his reply. He stared out into the dark night, suddenly void of people. Something moved the snow in front of us.

"What's that?" I whispered.

"I don't know," Percy replied, almost inaudibly, as he slowly stood up and removed riptide from his pocket in pen form. I felt helpless, because I knew I didn't have any weapon to fight with. My knife was long gone (not that I'd wanted it back after it'd been officially declared as the 'cursed blade' the prophecy had talked about).

The snow shifted again, and a figure lifted its head, leaving the already-fallen snowflakes to get dumped onto the ground.

Okay, I guess I should say it lifted its _heads_, because it was obviously a hydra. That was made clear the second Percy uncapped his sword and illuminated the glaring creature. I gasped, and not because I hadn't ever seen a hydra before, but because this particular one was colored a shimmering silver, just like the dust Kade had turned into. It was smaller than a normal hydra, with necks only about the size of my arm, but it was equally terrifying, if not more.

And it was staring right at me.

"Percy..." I whispered, grabbing for his hand. "It's looking at me."

"It is?"

"I don't have a weapon. I can't fight it."

"No problem." Percy jumped at the hydra, lunging at its side with riptide. I knew it wouldn't work, but apparently Percy didn't. It seemed like it didn't matter though, because the monster saw it coming. He sidestepped Percy's attack and started slinking towards me. Percy jabbed at it again, but it dodged the sword and kept coming to me. I was frozen in place with fear. When the monster was two feet in front of me, my senses kicked in. I sprinted to the left and jumped behind the hydra, momentarily confusing it.

Right as it turned around, I felt a burning sensation in the pocket of my jeans. I instantly remembered. Kade's ring. I had forgotten to change my jeans from last night and still had Kade's ring in my jeans pocket.

I'd never been more grateful that I didn't care much about clothes. I jammed my hand into my pocket and snatched the ring. When I touched the cold golden metal, it started to turn into the hand-scythe it really was. By the time I had brought it completely out of my pocket, the blade was gleaming wickedly in the moonlight and the hydra had frozen in its tracks. Percy eyed the scythe.

"Hey Annabeth," he said cautiously. "Where did you get that?"

I smirked. "Do you have a lighter on you?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" Percy asked, digging in his pocket.

"Follow my lead."

I dove at the hydra, slicing one of its heads clean off. I instructed Percy to burn the stump left behind by each head. I continued chopping off heads, and in no time we'd completely beheaded the monster. Its slimy body stumbled and fell over itself while we tried to decide what to do with it.

"Nice job, Iolaus," I said to Percy, grinning. He just shook his head at the monster and ran his hand through his black hair.

"You too, Hercules," he said, bewildered.

I laughed. "Thank you," I said. "Now, what do we do with it?"

In the end, we called Chiron and asked him what to do. With his instructions, we buried the hydra in the park along with its heads. That's when Chiron asked what it had been after.

"Annabeth," Percy responded.

Chiron frowned. "Oh my," he said. "There are still things after you, Annabeth?"

I nodded. Chiron shifted his weight from hoof to hoof.

"Well then," he said reluctantly. "I hate to say it, but I think it's time you return to camp."

"What!?" I shouted.

"No!" Percy said at the same time.

"But Chiron," I protested. "I'm 18. I shouldn't have to go back to camp."

"I agree, you shouldn't. But these are unique circumstances. I think it's best for you to be protected."

"But, Chiron-" Percy pleaded, a slight pout on his face.

"No buts," Chiron interrupted. "I'll send Argus with the van in the morning."

* * *

**Confused about the 'Iolaus' thing?****  
http://ancienthistory . about. com/od/monsters/ss/Monsters_  
Of course, without the spaces.**

**Whoever can guess the song this three-shot (yes, there's officially going to be another part) is based off of gets a cookie. :)  
Whoever can find the lyrics from that song in this chapter gets a strawberry fairy cake. :D**

**Just to let you know, my extended family is coming in from Baltimore tomorrow. Therefore, I won't be able to be on the computer all the time. It might be a little white before the next update. I'm sorry :(**

**Like it? Mind telling me if you do?**


End file.
